In April, 2007, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommended changes in the established treatment for gonorrhea infections.

Gonorrhea, the
sexually transmitted disease (STD) resulting from infection
with the bacteria known as Neisseria gonorrheae (also referred to as N. gonorrheae or gonococcus), affects over 339,000 persons each year in the U.S.
Previously, a class of antibiotics known as the fluoroquinolones [examples are
ciprofloxacin (Cirpo, Cipro
XR), ofloxacin (Floxin), and levofloxacin
(Levaquin)] was widely used in the treatment of
gonorrheal infection. Because of increasing resistance of many tested samples of
N. gonorrheae to the fluoroquinolone drugs, the CDC now recommends that only one
class of antibiotics, the cephalosporins, be used to treat gonorrheal
infections.

The cephalosporins include cefotaxime (Claforan), cephalexin
(Keflex, Keftabs), cefaclor
(Ceclor), cefoxitin (Mefoxin),
ceftazidime (Ceptaz), cefixime
(Suprax), and many other antibiotics. Because of increasing
resistance to the fluoroquinolones, the use of cephalosporins in the treatment
of gonorrhea has already been recommended by the CDC in previous years for
certain groups of individuals (those who acquired their infection in Asia, the
Pacific Islands, or California, as well as in men who have sex with men (MSM)).